Brigadier General
Brigadier General (sometimes known as a one-star general from the
United States insignia) is the lowest rank of
general officer in some countries, usually ranking just above
Colonel and just below
Major General.
The rank of Brigadier General (with some local variations) is used on both the
Argentine Army and the
Argentine Air Force. In both cases, the use of the rank is different from that of other military forces of the world.
The Army's rank of
General de Brigada can be translated as Brigadier General, although the more correct translation would be "
Brigade General". It should be noted that
General de Brigada is actually a two-star general rank, as the one-star rank in the Argentine Army is the rank of
Coronel Mayor (Senior Colonel).
Unlike other armed forces, the rank of
Brigadier General is actually the
highest rank in the
Argentine Air Force, roughly equal to a four-star General in other services. This is due to the use of the rank of
Brigadier and its derivatives to designate general-rank officers in the Air Force. The rank of Brigadier General is reserved to the Chief of the General Staff of the Air Force, as well as the Chief of the Joint General Staff if he should be an Air Force officer.
In the
Australian Imperial Force during
World War I, the rank of
Brigadier-General was always temporary and held only while the officer was posted to a particular task, typically the command of a brigade. When posted elsewhere, the rank would be relinquished and the former rank resumed. This policy prevented an accumulation of high-ranking general officers brought about by the relatively high turnover of brigade commanders.
As in the
United Kingdom, the rank was later replaced by
Brigadier.
The
Belgian Army uses the rank of
Général de brigade (
French) and
Brigadegeneraal (
Dutch). However, in this small military there are no permanent promotions to this rank, and it is only awarded as a temporary promotion to a full Colonel who assumes a post requiring the rank, notably in an international context (e.g. as
Military Attaché in a major embassy such as
Washington, D.C.).
In the
Canadian Forces, the rank of
Brigadier-General (BGen) (
Brigadier-général or
Bgén in
French) is an
Army or
Air Force rank equal to a
Commodore of the
Navy. A Brigadier-General is the lowest rank of
General Officer, the Army and Air Force equivalent of a Naval
Flag Officer. A Brigadier-General is senior to a
Colonel or
Naval captain, and junior to a
Major-General or
Rear-Admiral.
The rank insignia for a Brigadier-General is a single gold maple leaf beneath crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by St. Edward's Crown, worn on the shoulder straps of the Service Dress tunic, and on slip-ons on other uniforms. The Service Dress jacket also features a wide strip of gold braid around the cuff. On the visor of the service cap are two rows of gold oak leaves; the air force wedge cap features gold braid on the edges of the ear flaps. The cap insignia for a general officer is a modified version of the Canadian Forces insignia; the collar insignia (Army generals only) is two crossed sabres. Some brigadier-generals, by nature of holding a branch-specific appointment continue to wear the insignia of their
personnel branch; for example, the Surgeon-General wears the insignia of the
Canadian Forces Medical Service, while the Chaplain-General wears those of the
Chaplain Branch.
Brigadier-Generals are addressed by rank and name; thereafter by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am". Brigadier-Generals are normally entitled to
staff cars.
Note: Before Unification of the
Canadian Forces in 1968, rank structure and insignia followed the
British pattern.
The equivalent modern
German rank is
Brigadegeneral. The concept of a Brigadier General rank is relatively new, as prior to 1950 the lowest German General Officer rank was
Generalmajor, which was often considered equivalent to Brigadier General in other armies.
Main article: Taxiarkhos
In the
Israel Defense Forces, the rank of Brigadier General is called
Tat Aluf and is the third highest rank, below
Aluf (Major General) and
Rav Aluf (
Lieutenant General or
General), and above
Aluf Mishne (Colonel).
The
rank of Brigadier General is known in
South Korea as
Chunjang and is a direct equivalent to the United States one star rank, with very similar insignia. The military of
North Korea does not technically maintain a Brigadier General rank, but the first rank of Major General (
Sojang) displays one star as its insignia and is the effective equivalent.
The rank of Brigadier General is known in
Myanmar as
Du Bo Mhu Gyoke and is often the commander of one of Myanmar's Regional Military Commands, commander of the light infantry division or Military Operation Commands. In civil service, Brigadier General often hold the office of deputy minister or director general of certain ministries.
Prior to 2002, the Polish rank of
Generał brygady was equivalent to both the ranks of Major General and Brigadier General.
In the
Portuguese Army and
Air Force,
Brigadier-General (Brigadeiro-General) is a temporary general rank for the Colonels that have to exerce a special command. It's the equivalent of the
Commodore rank in the
Portuguese Navy.
The rank of
Brigadier-General was abolished in the
British Army and
Royal Marines in
1922. It was replaced initially by the appointment of
Colonel-Commandant, but this was seen as unsatisfactory and in
1928 was replaced by the appointment of
Brigadier (which became a conventional rank after
World War II). The old rank of Brigadier General has since been reintroduced in
Canada and some other
Commonwealth countries.
Brigadier is the highest field officer rank (hence absence of the word "general"), whereas Brigadier-General was the lowest general officer rank. However, the two ranks are considered equal.
The equivalent naval rank is
Commodore and the equivalent Air Force rank is
Air Commodore.
 |
US Brigadier General insignia |
The rank of
Brigadier General has existed in the
United States armed forces since the
American Revolutionary War. A Brigadier General was at first strictly an infantry officer who commanded a
brigade, but the responsibilities of the rank drastically expanded throughout the
19th and
20th century.
The rank was the equivalent to the
United States Navy rank of
Commodore, which later became known as
Rear Admiral (Lower Half). The insignia for a Brigadier General is one silver star worn on the shoulder or collar, with the insignia unchanged dating back to the creation of the rank some two centuries ago.
Since the
Mexican-American War, however, the lower rank of Colonel has been the normal rank appointed to command a brigade.
Today, an Army or Marine Corps Brigadier General typically serves as Deputy Commander to the Commanding General of a
division or division-sized units and assists in overseeing the planning and coordination of a mission.
*
Benedict Arnold (
Continental Army/
British Army)
*
Kit Carson (US Army)
*
Martin Dempsey (US Army)
*
Charles de Gaulle (President of France)
*
Reginald Dyer (Indian Army)
*
David Fraser (Canadian Forces)
*
Sheila A. Hellstrom (Canadian Forces — first female graduate of the
National Defence College and first female Brigadier-General in the Regular Force)
*
Janis Karpinski (US Army)
*
Lee Hsien Loong (Singapore Army)
*
Jonathan Moulton (
New Hampshire Militia)
*
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (US Army)
*
John Stark (
Continental Army)
*
James Stewart (U.S. Air Force (Reserve))
*
Paul Tibbets (US Air Force)
*
Chuck Yeager (US Air Force)
*
Avigdor Kahalani (Israeli Defence Force)
*
Angela Salinas (US Marine Corps - first Hispanic female to become a United States Marine Corps general officer, and the sixth female in the Marine Corps to reach the rank of brigadier general)
* Yeager was promoted to
Major General on the retired list in 2005.
*
wiktionary definition of
General.
*
Comparative military ranks*
Generał brygady*
U.S. Army officer rank insignia*
British Army officer rank insignia*
Military unit
